<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//ORA//DTD CD HTML 3.2//EN">
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>[Chapter 1] 1.6 The java.text Package</TITLE>
<META NAME="author" CONTENT="Mark Grand and Jonathan Knudsen">
<META NAME="date" CONTENT="Fri Aug  8 16:06:39 1997">
<META NAME="form" CONTENT="html">
<META NAME="metadata" CONTENT="dublincore.0.1">
<META NAME="objecttype" CONTENT="book part">
<META NAME="otheragent" CONTENT="gmat dbtohtml">
<META NAME="publisher" CONTENT="O'Reilly &amp; Associates, Inc.">
<META NAME="source" CONTENT="SGML">
<META NAME="subject" CONTENT="Java">
<META NAME="title" CONTENT="Java Fundamental Classes Reference">
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Script-Type" CONTENT="text/javascript">
</HEAD>
<body vlink="#551a8b" alink="#ff0000" text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" link="#0000ee">

<DIV CLASS=htmlnav>
<H1><a href='index.htm'><IMG SRC="gifs/smbanner.gif"
     ALT="Java Fundamental Classes Reference" border=0></a></H1>
<table width=515 border=0 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0>
<tr>
<td width=172 align=left valign=top><A HREF="ch01_05.htm"><IMG SRC="gifs/txtpreva.gif" ALT="Previous" border=0></A></td>
<td width=171 align=center valign=top><B><FONT FACE="ARIEL,HELVETICA,HELV,SANSERIF" SIZE="-1">Chapter 1<br>Introduction</FONT></B></TD>
<td width=172 align=right valign=top><A HREF="ch01_07.htm"><IMG SRC="gifs/txtnexta.gif" ALT="Next" border=0></A></td>
</tr>
</table>

&nbsp;
<hr align=left width=515>
</DIV>
<DIV CLASS=sect1>
<h2 CLASS=sect1><A CLASS="TITLE" NAME="JFC-CH-1-SECT-6">1.6 The java.text Package</A></h2>

<P CLASS=para>
The <tt CLASS=literal>java.text</tt> package is new in Java 1.1.
It contains classes that support the parsing and formatting of
data. These classes also support the internationalization of Java
programs.  Internationalization refers to 
the process of making a program flexible enough to run 
correctly in any locale. An internationalized program must,
however, be localized to enable it to run in a particular
locale. The internationalization capabilities in Java
are quite significant, especially in this age of the global
Internet.

<P CLASS=para>
Many of the classes in <tt CLASS=literal>java.text</tt> are meant
to handle formatting string representations
of dates, times, numbers, and messages based on the conventions
of a locale. 
The <tt CLASS=literal>Format</tt> class is the superclass of 
all of the classes that generate and parse string representations 
of various types of data. 

<P CLASS=para>
The <tt CLASS=literal>DateFormat</tt> class formats and parses dates
and times according to the customs and language of a particular
locale. By the same token, the <tt CLASS=literal>NumberFormat</tt> class
formats and parses numbers, including currency values, 
in a locale-dependent manner. 
The <tt CLASS=literal>MessageFormat</tt> 
class creates a textual message from a pattern
string, while <tt CLASS=literal>ChoiceFormat</tt> maps numerical
ranges to strings.
By themselves, these classes do not provide different results for
different locales. However, they can be used in conjunction with 
<tt CLASS=literal>ResourceBundle</tt> objects from <tt CLASS=literal>java.util</tt>
that generate locale-specific pattern strings.

<P CLASS=para>
The <tt CLASS=literal>Collator</tt> class handles collating strings
according to the rules of a particular locale.
Different languages have different
characters and different rules for sorting those characters; 
<tt CLASS=literal>Collator</tt> and its subclass, 
<tt CLASS=literal>RuleBasedCollator</tt>, 
are designed to take those differences into account when collating
strings. In addition, 
the <tt CLASS=literal>CollationKey</tt> class optimizes the sorting of a large collection of strings.

<P CLASS=para>
The <tt CLASS=literal>BreakIterator</tt> class finds various
boundaries, such as word boundaries and line boundaries, in
textual data. As you might expect, <tt CLASS=literal>BreakIterator</tt>
locates these boundaries according to the rules of a
particular locale.

<P CLASS=para>
See <A HREF="ch16_01.htm">Chapter 16, <i>The java.text Package</i></A>, for complete reference material on all of the
classes in the <tt CLASS=literal>java.text</tt> package.

</DIV>


<DIV CLASS=htmlnav>

<P>
<HR align=left width=515>
<table width=515 border=0 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0>
<tr>
<td width=172 align=left valign=top><A HREF="ch01_05.htm"><IMG SRC="gifs/txtpreva.gif" ALT="Previous" border=0></A></td>
<td width=171 align=center valign=top><a href="index.htm"><img src='gifs/txthome.gif' border=0 alt='Home'></a></td>
<td width=172 align=right valign=top><A HREF="ch01_07.htm"><IMG SRC="gifs/txtnexta.gif" ALT="Next" border=0></A></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width=172 align=left valign=top>The java.util Package</td>
<td width=171 align=center valign=top><a href="index/idx_0.htm"><img src='gifs/index.gif' alt='Book Index' border=0></a></td>
<td width=172 align=right valign=top>The java.math Package</td>
</tr>
</table>
<hr align=left width=515>

<IMG SRC="gifs/smnavbar.gif" USEMAP="#map" BORDER=0> 
<MAP NAME="map"> 
<AREA SHAPE=RECT COORDS="0,0,108,15" HREF="../javanut/index.htm"
alt="Java in a Nutshell"> 
<AREA SHAPE=RECT COORDS="109,0,200,15" HREF="../langref/index.htm" 
alt="Java Language Reference"> 
<AREA SHAPE=RECT COORDS="203,0,290,15" HREF="../awt/index.htm" 
alt="Java AWT"> 
<AREA SHAPE=RECT COORDS="291,0,419,15" HREF="../fclass/index.htm" 
alt="Java Fundamental Classes"> 
<AREA SHAPE=RECT COORDS="421,0,514,15" HREF="../exp/index.htm" 
alt="Exploring Java"> 
</MAP>
</DIV>

</BODY>
</HTML>
